The World's in Our Hands
by Arcbound
Summary: Over one hundred years before the promised day, Father recreates Lust as a child, and Greed is forced with the task of training her to be a useful homunculus.
1. Starry Night

The little girl opened her eyes and saw a little of the dark cavern. The floral patterned sundress she wore was the first thing she'd ever seen, in this lifetime. She felt the cold and uncomfortable ground with her hand and sat up.

That's when she noticed in the dim light a large, golden haired man sitting in front of her on a throne of stone. Hushed voices spoke, one laughing while the next complained. ' _Where am I?_ ' she wondered, and hugged her knees as the others noticed she was awake and grew silent, watching her as the large man stood up. "Um, 'scuse me, mister," she said raising a hand, "who are you?" Then the skin pulled back around her eyes and left a shocked expression, "who am I?"

"You are my daughter," the man told her as he observed. "You are my sin- the sin of Lust."

Her eyes failed to focus on any one thing as thoughts flashed through her mind. ' _My name is Lust? It's pretty. Sin's bad though, isn't it? Why can't I remember anything?_ ' She placed a palm on her forehead, trying to understand the situation.

A total blackness came from the sides and closed in front of Lust, stirring the air against her as she listened to them talking once more. "Do we need to knock her out? Something like this requires kindness... probably." "Hey everyone, we've got a child psych in the house!" "Be silent. The one who will train her has final say in the matter, with my approval." "Train? I was never trained, and look at me! No homunculus needs a formal lesson, just commands!" "I said be silent, Envy. You have already been told why we are taking this course, so suffer it."

Red eyes appeared, scattered in the darkness. She gasped, and with the air went consciousness.

* * *

Lust pressed her face against the glass window, mushing her cheeks and nose as she watched the horses and buggies drive down the lane, before cheering "the brown horse was faster, it won!"

"It isn't a race for them, Lust," Greed said as he held the daily paper and watched her from a chair in the kitchen, hoping she didn't fall and hurt herself like yesterday. The spill she'd sustained had more effect than his lectures, he noticed, seeing how she carefully turned around before sitting down on the gray couch. "They're just doing what they need to, ignoring everyone else who does the same."

The date on the paper was February twenty-something,- his thumb smudged the cheap ink. ' _It's been two weeks since then, already? Or should it be "only" two weeks..._ '

Greed thought about what Envy had told him that dawn, coming and leaving before Lust was awake- that Pride would be coming tomorrow, to check up on her combat progress. ' _Why haven't I even begun the work yet?_ ' he asked himself.

He was brought out of thought by a scratching sound at the door and stood up to see what it was, when Lust rushed past him, swinging around a jut of wall and faced the door. She stretched herself on tiptoes to reach the doorknob, her body trembling from the effort, and she twisted the knob before leaning back. This pulled the door just enough her fingers could fit, and she pried it open until she could step onto the front stoop.

On the street more carriages had come, passing through Central to transport wares and passengers from one city to another, while pedestrians striking up conversations with other strangers about the new steam engine in Creta, or the controversy in parliament. Clay flower pots sat in most windowsills along the cobblestone road, and water from the night's downpour had overflowed them and washed away dirt that had been laying on their sides. The street had shallow creeks flowing downhill between the stones, and splashed as horses stepped into them or wheels over them. Down the way she could hear a crowd's cheers as an alchemist performed some simple transmutations and fixed common items- but it was a small animal meowing on their porch which she came out for.

Lust's eyes grew with excitement as she grabbed the dirty kitten under the front legs and picked it up from the stoop, before she ran back inside to show her guardian, smiling. "Can I keep it, Greed?" she asked, prepared to beg if necessary. The kitten meowed, but did not try to escape her hold.

Greed looked at the animal, and his face read 'confusion' as he tilted his head. "What? I won't say no," he patted the cat on its head, causing it to purr with closed eyes, "but why? It's just some stray animal."

"Because it's cute!" Lust held it up to his face, and the kitten meowed again before swiping at him with its matted auburn paw, weak yet playful. She cradled it and marched to the washroom with long and straight steps, not bending her knees. Greed listened from the fresh mud marked hallway as she turned the handle and tightened her hold on the cat as it tried to escape from the sound of water, giggling and saying "no, kitty, stop- don't try to run away!" Soon the tub was full and Lust turned it off before she lowered the kitten in.

Greed stepped to the doorway and watched as Lust rubbed the stray and cleaned it as the meowing grew louder and more distressed, until it leaped from the water to the side of the claw-foot tub, and scurried out of the room. When he reached the doorway Greed crouched and grabbed him by the scruff of his nape and picked him up, holding the kitten at face level to look at the wet and clumped fur, spikes of it then moving as his blue feline eyes closed and mouth opened for another meow.

"You can't wash a cat if he doesn't stay in the tub, you know," he brought the kitten back to Lust and handed him to her.

"I know, Greed, but it's hard to keep it still!" Lust said, and promised to do her best to keep it from escaping again.

"He, not it- and if you aren't ready to take care of a pet..." Greed stopped, seeing the look of defeat on her face, and regretted his words. "I won't take the cat away, if you name and care for him."

Lust shut her eyes and hummed with thought a few seconds before opening them into a smile, "Lily! Lily is a pretty name, isn't it Greed?"

"What the heck? Isn't that a bit girly?" he asked, looking sorry for the cat, but shrugged and grabbed the door handle as he turned to leave. "Have him clean and dry- no, both of you be clean and dried before either come out of there, alright?" Lust smiled as she whipped a nod, and he shut the door.

* * *

The kitten laid curled on a pillow, and Greed tucked Lust under the blankets with experience of the past two weeks. "And you're sure you're tired?" he asked.

"The sun's down, Greed, 'course I am. Why do you ask me every night?" Her eyes were half open as she pulled out a hand to pet Lily.

"No reason," he said, "but it'd be nice to watch the moon rise with someone," he said, and wondered ' _why would Father make her tire, like a human?_ '

"We can watch the moon rise?" Lust asked, and upset Greed's careful laying of the blankets by sitting up. "That sounds pretty..."

"Only people who're awake get to see it, so you can't come if you're tired." Lust began to get out of bed, and Greed knew the careful wording had worked.

"No, I'm awake!" Lust got out of bed and smoothed her sundress, before marching out of the room. Greed followed her with a heavy blanket in hand to the attic, where he showed her how to pull down the wooden steps from the ceiling and get onto the roof of the house Father had arranged for her training. A few failures later she managed to pull them down, and they walked up to the flat portion of the roof meant to be used as a deck, furnished with a seat. A metal railing went around the deck, and after leaning against it a few minutes they sat together on the wooden bench, protected from the cold by the quilt.

The moon was not visible. "It came over the horizon hours ago," Greed told her, "but we can watch it go higher once the clouds part." No stretch of sky was visible through the atmosphere, only soft glows where the clouds were thinner.

Lust tried to sit still and wait for the clouds to pass, but squirmed as much as Lily had earlier once several minutes had passed. "How long will it take?" she whined.

Greed patted her head. "Just a little longer, maybe." The wind sped up, chilling them even through the blanket. Lust moved closer to leech his heat.

They waited with resting hands together on the wooden bench while watching the few people below on the streets. Children racing each other, then running away from the angry grocer they had bumped. Some businessmen, walking together after a long meeting. A traveling merchant, exhibiting the last of his wares to a newly wed couple of tourists. Finally Greed noticed the suspicious character whom never strayed from the shadows of buildings and buggies. ' _Envy,_ ' he realized. ' _At least he's not coming up here._ ' Greed turned his head up and saw the chilled wind had blown the clouds.

Stars, hundreds of thousands of them, flickered in intensity as they shined like little pieces of glass. The sky's centerpiece, the waxing half moon, was brighter than some lanterns he'd seen, the sunlight otherwise hidden from them reflecting and revealing craters and marks on the surface.

Greed looked down at Lust to see if she'd noticed, and saw she'd fallen asleep sometime during the wait. ' _She looks pretty cute sleeping- more like a cat than a homunculus should._ ' Her head was leaning against his arm, her mouth open just slightly.

A sound- Greed twisted his neck to look at the roof above and behind them, while keeping his shoulder steady. Remembering Envy on the street, he prepared himself for hardening, but saw a different homunculus.

A glowing red eye hung above the top of the roof, contrasting the dark clouds which had blown there, and underneath it was Pride's container, the body humans knew as 'Selim'.

"Do you have a reason to creep up on us, or does the thrill justify it?" Greed asked, and eyed his brother with contempt as his shadows lowered him to the shingles and he walked down the roof to the deck. On the childish body was a frilly school uniform, just longer than his arms, and Greed kept his mouth closed as laughter shook his chest.

"Don't be so cold, Greed," Pride said, "I'm just here to see what I should expect tomorrow; I'll be coming as Selim, don't worry. Envy told me how you want to shelter Lust from us," Pride said, crossing his arms in irritation as Greed smiled at his outfit. "The legislator enrolled me last week," he said, then looked to Lust, "why did you teach her to sleep?"

"I didn't, she's been doing it naturally ever since Father recreated her in this form," Greed said. ' _That's right,_ ' he thought, ' _Envy told me he'd be coming tomorrow._ ' He moved his arm to cover Lust's head, protecting her from the intruder. "I blame you for it, since you knocked her out before bringing her here. Isn't it possible that started some kind of day and night cycle in her mind?"

"Maybe, but you should try to break it if you can." Selim looked up at the moon and smiled, thinking of how its light powered his shadows at night. "How much have you taught her? Manipulation, combat, persuasion... all those things are crucial if she'll be as useful as before."

Greed wrapped Lust in the blanket and picked her up, then turned to the stairs. "I don't think she's necessary, not with me and Envy around to instigate events."

"Father's not going to like that answer, Greed. Are you saying you haven't begun?"

"Right. But if I have to, I'll fulfill the role I promised to act. I keep my word, Pride, even when I don't want to." He stopped a few steps down, and asked "is she necessary, though?"

"Envy's too cruel, and you won't lie- Lust is the most well balanced of you three, and she has an extra asset when it comes to convincing men too," Pride said. "I'll come by in the morning to teach her the basics of combat; you can build from that." Pride lowered his container to the ground with shadows, and returned to the household Father had him influencing.

Greed shuffled down the stairs with a twisted neck, trying to see the steps around Lust, until he reached the floor and was greeted by meows. "Oh, you're hungry? We don't keep any food, sorry."

He walked through the house to Lust's room, and laid her on the bed. 'She looks more peaceful than I've ever seen another homunculus,' Greed thought. He turned out the light and closed the door, then returned to the attic to push the stairs up. "Here, here." He picked up the kitten, Lily, whom had been following Greed around and put him in a basket. "Let's go get you something to eat- the guys are probably wondering why I'm so late tonight, anyway. You'd better hope they like you, or this basket's staying outside the tavern door until dawn."

* * *

Lust rolled and curled in her sleep, and vocalized something between whimpers and grunts. In her mind, a perpetual nightmare reigned in which a towering monster with glowing red eyes stood ahead of her, and long curved teeth reached out from it to eat her. On its chest was a giant eye.


	2. Selim

"It's not my problem your new 'kid' can't control himself!" Greed yelled, turning to leave only to find teeth-bearing shadows had covered the exit of their underground cave. "Oh, so that's how it's gonna' be- sounds like fun!" He shouted, making his hand into a steel claw.

"Enough!" Father's voice stopped him, and Pride retracted his darkness. "You're the one at fault, Greed, so you're being held responsible," Father glared at him, and Greed's shoulders slacked. "You can accept it now or later, but there's no choice outside of that."

Greed sneered, playing the delinquent, but straightened up. In the corner the newest homunculus, just a day old, sucked his thumb and rocked back and forth on his bottom.

"Fine, but what's up with this guy? I didn't do this baby crap when you formed me- none of us did!"

"That is his personality, formed around the sin of Gluttony. He's able to speak and understand orders as well as fulfill them, so it's fine," Father said.

"It's only for a few weeks, maybe a couple months if you're bad at it. Lighten up," Pride smiled, "I've been some rich politician's kid for over a year now, so this much is easy."

"Yeah, Greed," Envy joined in, "if you can't handle this much maybe you're the one who needs to be trained, not her."

"My hand's still carbon, ya' know."

"Oh, I'm well aware." The atmosphere spoke of more tension than had been present in that dark cavern, since many years past.

"Enough! None of that will further my plans, so it's a waste. Greed, you'll be responsible for instructing and training her and, that done, Lust's memories and body will be returned to her. You have a house above ground available, and should you choose to use it none of the others will enter it without permission- so long as you do your job."

"Oh, I'm using it- I mean, isolation from you freaks isn't something I can turn down!" He thought a moment, "but if she came back here a human might follow, and if she saw his death we'd have to start all this over..."

"I'll take care of that," Pride said, "just do what you're told."

Red sparks flashed on Father's chest, and a portion of the toga parted to reveal a young girl growing from of it as if slipping above water, clad in a flower-patterned sundress.

"Ooh, a flower girl- who's getting married, and why didn't I get invited? You all know how much I like large gatherings of humans!" Envy said, and laughed as he wasted part of a man's soul on the energy used to transform into a priest holding a book open in one hand and dagger in the other.

Lust fell to the ground, landing hard. Red transmutation sparks glowed on the ground behind her, healing the bruise as her eyelids twitched, her mind waking for the first time in this form.

They were distracted from that by Greed's protests that Envy should be locked up whenever he wasn't fulfilling a straight forward mission. Soon, though, they noticed she'd already awoke, and grew quiet as they watched to see what her first actions would be. They watched as she sat up and asked Father who he was, until Pride's shadows enveloped her.

Greed stepped back in surprise as the dangerous shadows rushed past him, before realizing Pride's intent. "Is it necessary to knock her out?" Greed asked, "something like this requires kindness..." He caught himself and added "probably."

* * *

Lust squirmed, readjusting how she sat on the couch not for the first time, and watched the door. She petted Lilly, who laid on the cushion next to her, but did so with mindless repetition and twice reached too far and stroked his face, creating a loud meow before finally the kitten got up and climbed the stairs, to curl on Lust's pillow.

"How much longer?" She asked Greed, whom was reading a satirical novel from Creta, published in his 'youth'.

"Selim should get here around ten," he said, and place a string between the pages before closing the book. "Why don't you go feed your cat? He gets hungry, you know."

"What time is it now?" She asked, leaning from side to side like a metronome while Greed read the clock on the wall, hanging above a flowering house plant.

"It's a quarter before."

After a few minutes of silence, Lust asked "a quarter?" and tilting her head.

"It means a fourth- one of four equal divisions. A quarter of an hour is fifteen minutes," Greed explained, and wondered ' _I can understand making me train her- it toughens her mind and punishes me at the same time, at least in theory. But why would Father make her forget things like quarters? Just to punish me more? That sentence is worse than life!_ '

"You're so smart, Greed." Lust learned forward with her elbows on her knees and head on her hands. "Is that why your head's so big?"

Greed imagined how satisfying it would be to punch her, then said patiently "Do you mean compared to your head? My entire body is larger, so the head's nothing special."

"That isn't it, Greed; I mean your hair. Isn't it sticking up so much because your head's big, so it has nowhere else to go?"

' _That isn't it, you little idiot._ ' He took a deep breath, "Nah, I stick it up like that because I think it looks cool."

"What's cool?"

' _I wonder whether Father would be mad or not, if she uses a bit of her stone._ ' Greed stood up before dropping down, doing push-ups to relieve the annoyance in a peaceful manner. "It's... appealing. Like cuteness, but in a different way."

"Am I cool?" Lust asked with wonder.

' _Not in any way, shape, or form are you cool. Oh well,_ ' he thought, ' _opinions aren't really lies unless you claim to hold them._ ' Greed nodded his head and forced a grin, "Mm! Yup, you're so cool, and cute too, there's no way Selim won't like you when he gets here!" Greed said, before pushing off the ground harder with one arm to flip himself over, and began doing sit-ups. ' _Now feed the cat, you little..._ ' He counted down from ten with a deep breath on every number.

"Yay, I got Greed to call me cool AND cute!" Lust cheered, jumping off the couch and running through the house with her arms outstretched like a bird.

' _It was all a sham? That's... somehow less annoying._ ' Greed sighed, then smiled. ' _Well, maybe she's alright?_ '

He heard a knock from the entrance, and got up to answer it. Opening the door he found Pride, pretending to be a little boy.

"We're finished with manipulation," Greed told him.

Pride nodded, then saw Lust stick her head through a doorway, and watch them. "Is that your daughter, mister?" He asked, enjoying the chance to tease Greed.

' _I shouldn't have agreed to this,_ ' he thought. "Shut up, or I throw you out- got it?" Greed forced another smile, knowing Lust would be able to see them but not hear from where she was, so long as he spoke softly.

"O-K." He leaned to the side and and waved. "Hel-lo, Lust!"

"Selim." She curtsied.

' _How come she forgets what a quarter is, but knows that? Unless she did know... How far back does the scheme to get compliments from me go?!_ ' Greed wondered, and gave up. ' _Well, it's one less thing I need to teach her, anyway._ '

"Let's go play!" Pride said, and Greed was impressed. ' _His voice just keeps getting better as the decades go by; would I even be able to tell Pride and Selim are the same if I didn't know him? Maybe I should've spent the past century improving like that._ '

"O-K!" Lust said, doing her best to imitate him.

Pride smiled, ' _This will be easier than I thought, if she parrots others like that._ ' He put his coat on a hook in the hallway.

"Want to play in the basement? There's a lot of fun toys down there!" She said.

"Al-right!" He cheered, before turning back to Greed as Lust ran ahead. "You bought her enough toys to fill a basement?"

"Father gave me a budget."

"Spend it on something useful!"

They heard Lust calling from the stairs, and Pride ran to meet her while Greed shut the front door.

* * *

Lust stumbled into the way of the ball as it came her and kicked it. Pride bumped it with his foot, but let it pass and roll to the wall behind him.

"You win again!" he told Lust, "That's three for you and two for me." His eyes searched the room, ' _Where is it? If he bought this many toys, he should have a... there!_ '

Through the tidy piles of sports equipment and board-games he spotted horseshoe stakes. "Want to see something really cool?"

Lust shrugged, "Mmh, what is it?"

' _I'll have to build her trust in me to influence her._ ' Pride thought. "I'm gonna' slice off the very top of that short pole over there, with nothing but my shadow!"

"Wow, really?" She clasped her hands in wonder, and looked at him, excited.

"Yup, now watch close!" He moved his shadows slower than usual, not knowing if she would be able to keep up otherwise. The far end of it reached the stake and circled around the top before contracting, and meeting itself in the middle. A thin copper disc from the very top of it fell to the ground, and rolled towards Lust, before losing its balance and toppling onto the ground a foot away.

Lust gasped, "Whoa! Was that alchemy? Are you an alchemist, Selim?" she asked, feeling the disc's thinness.

' _Alchemy? Is she stupid?_ ' Pride wondered. "Almost- it's something like that. Do you wanna' try it?"

"Oh boy, can I?" Lust asked, shutting her eyes and holding her breath, while concentrating on moving her shadows.

' _Greed really didn't start at all- this is worse than I expected._ ' Pride walked up to her and took her arm. "Only I can move my shadows like that, but I bet you could use your finger nails! Imagine them growing longer, and move 'em around a bit."

Lust did as instructed, and soon her nails began to lengthen and bend. "Look, I'm really doing it Selim!" she cried.

"Keep doing that, and you'll get even better!" he encouraged her, and noticed the spot where her nails connected to the skin writhing. ' _Disgusting- is this why she always wore gloves back then? Thank you, past Lust._ '

She extended them farther, and made them take a sharp turn towards the stake, missing by centimeters before swiping to the side and taking a jagged chunk off the side.

Pride picked up the chunk when it was done skidding and looked it over, inspecting the marks. ' _This will take some time._ ' He ducked as Lust's nails went over his head, as she retracted them while running up the stairs.

"Greed, Greed!" Lust called. She found him in the kitchen feeding Lily, and beamed while she told him about her accomplishment.

' _Pride managed to teach her? Hmm, before I didn't want to, but now..._ ' Mild regret went through his mind for not teaching her himself. Then Greed clapped and put a flower petal on her nose. ' _Well, it's not too late to be a part of it,_ ' he thought. "Good job, but can you stick a nail through that without hurting your nose?"

Lust began to pout, but leaned her head back and held a hand above it. A nail crept forward until it just pierced the petal. She flinched and drew it back, revealing a tiny dot of blood, which he covered with his thumb as the skin regenerated.

"Ow, why'd that happen? I did it as slowly as I could..." her eyes began to water, and she sniffled.

"Don't worry, you'll improve soon enough," Greed comforted, patting her on the back.

Pride rushed up the stairs, feigning excitement about what Lust did. "It was like, whoosh- and then, it kinda' went swish!"

' _Don't over do it, first child._ ' Greed faked a laugh, and opened the door. "Well, Sea-lime, I heard your father calling while you two were downstairs, and you don't want to keep him waiting!" He handed Pride his coat with a smile.

Pride nodded, "O-k. Bye bye, Lust!" He stepped out, and gave Greed a cold look to match the weather as the door closed.

* * *

"Father, I'm back!" Pride called as he entered the home of his victim, the legislator who adopted him early in the previous year.

"Ah, welcome back Selim! Did you have fun with your friend today?" The old man asked, putting down his newspaper.

"Yeah! We played soccer and horseshoes, and she had this huge basement!" He spread his arms for effect, and the politician chuckled.

"Well, I'm glad you had a good time. Supper will be ready soon, so wash up, alright?" He picked up his paper and continued from where he'd left off, in the political news.

Pride nodded, "O-k. By the way, father, have you changed your mind on that bill the papers are all talking about?"

The old man turned his head, befuddled. "Why, of course not! I could never allow them to pass a law allowing a single man to rule the nation through bypassing the parliament- he'd become a dictator in record time! Why do you ask, Selim? Have you taken an interest in politics?"

"No, but should you be replaced that bill would pass- next in line for your seat would vote for it." The child smiled as the eyes watching the old man glowed red.

"What in-" The politician had started up, when pure blackness impaled his heart. "Se... Lim..." His breathing grew shallow as his last thoughts of the devil's child passed, then ceased.

"Old fool. If you'd just accepted the bribe a few more happy years were ahead of you. Were your ideals worth this?" Pride left into the cold, late winter afternoon, not bothering to shut the door or grab his coat, and never appeared at that house again.

A week later, the bill passed the Amestrian parliament, and the sitting Chancellor was titled Fuhrer.

* * *

Lust spent most of the day after that practicing, before she got bored and watched out the window or played with Lily instead. When she went to sleep that night, Lust dreamt the same nightmare as she had for two weeks. A giant monster stood ahead of her, guarding the eye on it's chest with a dozen curved spikes, each reaching for her. As had happened every night, the spikes grew closer than any night in the past, until she awoke and curled up under the blanket, wondering how many more nights would pass before it finally reaches her.


	3. Gluttony

Lust held Greed's pants leg with one hand, and his hand with the other while she hid behind him.

"No. Lust obviously doesn't like you, so I can't let you in." Greed glared at his brother, ' _Why can't they just leave us alone a few days?_ ' "Go back home."

"Ooh, even if I promise to be nice? I don't want to hurt Lust, or scare her- just be friends."

She saw between her guardian's legs that the man was short and round, with a large mouth and nose below his bald scalp. His voice sounded like comic relief characters tend to in plays, and not a single tooth was smaller than half a thumb. Just out of her view was a box, holding the fruits of an earlier labour.

"You aren't allowed in, unless Lust says it's fine." Greed shut his eyes a moment, contemplating the best way to harm him without Lust seeing. ' _What's with you guys? Father's forcing me to do this, it's not a vacation- so why do you keep trying to get in on it?_ '

"Well, can I?" The odd guy asked Lust, leaning to the side to smile at her. He might've bent over too, if he wasn't so short. "Can I play with you?"

Lust pressed into Greed's legs, but nodded yes.

' _Yes? What made you agree to it, Lust?_ ' Greed wondered. Then he shrugged and stepped to the side letting the man in, before closing the door behind him. "Fine, but I'm supervising."

The bald man stretched out a meaty hand, "Hello, Lust. My name is Gluttony!"

Lust came away from Greed and looked at the hand hesitantly, before tapping it and shouting "Tag, you're it!"

"I'm... It?" Gluttony asked, and looked at his palm in confusion as Lust ran through the house, seeking a hiding spot.

"It's a kiddie game she likes. It'd work better with more than two people, but there hasn't been a good opportunity to introduce her to humanity just yet," Greed said, and slapped him on the back. "Well, the rules are simple. 'It' wants to touch someone else, who then becomes 'it' instead, but no one wants to be 'it'. Just," he looked at Gluttony from head to toe, taking in his deformed proportions, "don't run too fast or you'll be frightening, let her win some you could've so her spirits don't fall, and what ever you do don't scare her or I swear I'll rip out your tongue the moment she takes a nap."

Gluttony covered his mouth in horror, "But then, how would I taste people?"

"The heck? It'd come back you dope."

"You mean it'd wriggle and crawl back to me?" Gluttony asked in wonder, and pulled his tongue until it hurt and grew sore, so he let go of it. "It's no use, my tongue isn't made to come off," he said sadly, and rubbed his jaw.

' _That's right, he hasn't a chance to regenerate anything, yet._ ' Greed slapped him on the back again, "Well! Lust will think you left us already if you don't start looking soon. And remember," he gripped Gluttony's head and turned it towards him, "if you do something again, I swear there'll be no chance for a third time."

"Okay," he said through a squished face, "I won't, I promise." Greed let go, and Gluttony stepped away with rapidity, looking back as he left the room to make sure he wasn't about to be preemptively attacked. "Lust, oh where are you?" he called, and realized the game had changed to one of his favorites- hide and seek. Envy always told him, after all, 'time to play hide and seek, Gluttony! There's a human somewhere in these woods, and if you find him you've also found a juicy, delicious snack!' So Gluttony loved hide and seek.

* * *

' _I want to say sorry, but how can I do that without making her remember?_ ' That was the question he faced, and couldn't find an answer to.

Life was new to him then, even more than now- his entire existence went back only a few hours, and the others tested him to find out how useful he could be, while Father told them his purpose. He was meant to bypass human sacrifice as a catalyst to call down God, through his gate of falsehood, a door opened by rage. None of them realized then that any amount of anger, with no memories of worse anger to use as a watermark, could be equal to an intense fury.

"He's obsessed with food, right?" Greed said, and went out to the city above, returning an hour later with a piece of meat. He waved the juicy, medium-rare steak at his new brother.

Gluttony's mouth opened to drool, while his short legs began to take steps towards Greed before his eyes widened at the sight of the hundred year old homunculus eating the steak himself, making use of his stomach for the first time in decades.

Enraged. Pride later taught him that word, in the context of "Don't become enraged like that again, except when you're told." Gluttony's eyes turned red, and his entire body from the jaw down split open. His ribs turned into long, curved teeth pointed out, and from his center mass watched an eye.

"The experiment failed." Father had said that, he remembered, but didn't realize until later it referred to him. The original homunculus could tell the eye saw for someone else, not the god he'd called down centuries earlier "Gluttony, close the gate." The youngest homunculus, 'enraged' by Greed, ignored this command and reached his new teeth for the brother who had angered him, when she came got in the way.

Lust had been pacing, considering how to make use of him. ' _Could he be taught to frighten people without causing harm? No, not with his appetite._ ' She was so deep into planning how he might be used, Lust failed to even notice his advance towards Greed, and paced between the two.

The tusks extended, moving nearly as fast as Sloth could. At the last moment Lust turned her head, feeling something wrong, and had time enough only to focus on his eyes, the three of them, then the ribs reaching out to meet her. Her own eyes widened, and the bones closed.

Greed stared in shock as Gluttony reverted to his calmer, childlike self, apparently ignorant of what he'd just done- until he looked at his work. Lust's body had been halved, and looked as if it'd been standing beneath a guillotine. Her front side went into the false gate, while the other stood a moment before falling forward onto the dirt ground.

Gluttony ran to a wall of the cavern, and buried his head under his arms when her vocal chords regenerated, and Lust began screaming. The others watched, unmoved. ' _This hasn't happened to a homunculus before, has it?._ ' ' _I knew she should've been given some violent missions- a lack of bloodshed can't lead to anything but this... Weakness. Having her be nothing but a manipulator was a mistake._ ' ' _What will we do about this?_ '

All eyes turned to Father, and watched as he descended his throne to walk were Lust laid on the ground, screaming. His arm was thrust into her back, and the near veins were visible as the stone liquefied and flowed back into the homunculus it came from. The screams of the homunculus, powered by thousands of Xerxians who wished their own cries might be heard, ceased. The body disintegrated into dust and disappeared.

"Greed, you caused this, and you'll end it," Father said, returning to his throne. "Lust will be recreated, in the form of a child; children are more malleable. Raise- no, train her to be a competent homunculus, capable of fulfilling orders violent and diplomatic alike."

"Hey! Gluttony did this, not-"

"She will not retain memories of her past self. She will not instinctively be able to activate her powers, except regeneration, until shown how. She will be returned her memories and body once you've sufficiently prepared her. These orders are not negotiable."

Gluttony stayed by the wall the entire discussion, covering his head while Greed argued against Father, and didn't move until Pride took Lust away.

' _Is there a way to say sorry, without reminding her?_ ' Gluttony's head began to hurt from thinking too deeply, so he gave up.

* * *

Lust sat at the kitchen table drawing with pastels on a small, square plank of wood. Gluttony posed for it and did his best to remain still, aside from eating every few minutes from a box of stolen vegetables he brought in from the front stoop. Greed watched with mild amusement.

Outside, clock rang thrice. "I'm going out for awhile," Greed said, putting on his tinted spectacles. "Will you two be fine alone for an hour or two?"

"Huh? Where are you going?" Lust asked, and rested her chin on the table. "You've never gone any place before."

"I'm just going to visit some friends, that's all."

"The rough ones? Ooh, Father won't like that, Greed," Gluttony told him.

"Father? Are you talking about your daddy Gluttony?" Lust asked him, and Greed covered his face.

'Why'd he need to bring up Father?'

"Not just my father, but Greed's as well!"

Lust's head came back up with the face lit up, "Than he's my Grandfather!"

Greed coughed, holding back an outburst of laughter. He straightened his face and told Lust "No, that's not quite the way it is. I'm his son, and so's Gluttony, but you're his only daughter." As he explained, Greed pointed to the people he mentioned. "If you ever hear from him directly, do as he says, but don't blindly trust someone claiming to tell you what he said. Understand?"

Lust nodded, and thought about how she'd never considered her parents before. "Where's my mother and father, Greed? Are they in this city too?"

' _How do I explain this to her? Later, that's how,_ ' Greed thought. "I'll tell you when I get home." He turned to Gluttony and said "Could I see you in the living room a moment, hmm?"

The little big man got up and followed him, so Lust dropped her chin on the table again with a thud and rolled it back and forth as she waited for him to come back so she could finish the portrait.

Greed made sure Lust couldn't hear them, before saying "Bring up Father again, or try to explain anything about the nature of homunculi, and I'll make sure you never eat again. Don't, and you'll probably get food, from someone, some day. Maybe. Is that a good deal?"

"No! You've already picked on me enough, Greed- acting like I'm dumb or like I'm not trying hard enough to keep Lust from getting hurt or scared. Just let me be!"

' _I've been picking on him? Hmm, I don't think I treated him different from how I treat most people, despite his freakishness._ ' Greed thought about it a moment, "Fine, don't mention or explain anything like that and I'll treat you more like I treat Lust- is that to your satisfaction?"

"Ooh, yes!" Gluttony smiled, imagining how nice it must be to be Lust, and have Greed act nice to you.

' _Since that means ignorant and annoying, I guess that means I won't need to change a thing I do around him._ ' He opened the door, "I'm heading out now, see you later Lust!"

"Bye bye!" She called from the kitchen. Greed closed the door and left.

* * *

The two had played for over an hour, changing between peaceful and rambunctious and back again, when they heard a window shatter.

"What was that?" Lust asked. Gluttony saw her eyes were wide, and her breathing was fast; both were signs of fear, Envy taught him.

"It was... the milkman!" He said the first thing that came to mind, and led Lust to where the sound had come from to prove it was nothing to worry about, making sure Lust stayed near. ' _I must keep Lust safe, I must keep Lust unafraid._ '

They entered the kitchen and saw him. A thief had broken the window above the counter and came in, stepping on the pastel portrait they'd laid there to display.

"My, drawing..." Lust began to sniffle, and Gluttony looked at him with hatred.

"You broke in, and made Lust cry!" He lunged forward to eat him, but stopped. The hungry homunculus thought of Lust, and held back the urge to open his gate, or even eat the man. ' _I can't do that anymore, not around her._ ' Gluttony did his best to calm down, and grabbed the terrified robber with a tight hug.

"Wha, what are you? What's wrong with your body and face- no, what's wrong with your mind?" He cried, and tried shouting for help, but Gluttony crushed him just enough to cause a fear of death, and the man blacked out.

The smell of a terrified human was overwhelming, and Gluttony's mouth watered. ' _No, I can't eat humans near Lust!_ ' he reminded himself, but it was a difficult task to keep from at least nibbling on his head.

He took a step to turn around, so the man wasn't facing Lust, but too much momentum caused him to stumble, and to stay upright his only choice was to spin. ' _This way, she won't be able to see him!_ ' Gluttony thought, and decided he was a genius.

The spinning first bewildered Lust, but she soon found it hilarious and started laughing as she danced around the two, unaware the man wasn't conscious. In her fit of giggles she didn't hear the front door open. And that was the scene Greed saw when he came to the kitchen doorway.

"What the heck is going on in here? Who're you? Why're you spinning, Gluttony? What's so... Aw, forget it." Greed walked in and picked up Lust to keep her from getting hit by the man's flailing legs, "Thanks for watching her, Gluttony, but I think it's time for you to go; take whoever that guy is with you."

Gluttony nodded, though it was hard to tell, and spun through the kitchen, living room, and out the door onto the stoop. Greed shut the door behind him, and put down Lust.

"I don't suppose you can explain any of that?" He asked her.

"Nope."

Greed sighed and brushed the dusting of snow he had been covered with returning from his 'rough friends'. ' _I hope he didn't break our agreement,_ ' he thought, before remembering a question he'd had since Gluttony first came in. "What made you change your mind, Lust?"

"When?" Lust turned around- she'd been going downstairs to practice her 'nailing' skills.

"When Gluttony came earlier. You didn't seem to like him much, but decided to let him in anyway." Greed hung up his coat, meant as a disguise from wandering homunculi when he was outside. "Was there a reason?"

She tilted her head a bit, and thought hard. "Well, it was cold out," Lust said "But, when I saw him, I thought I recognized him from somewhere, somewhere bad. And then I got over it!"

Greed began to ask another question, but she went down the stairs before he could finish. Instead he walking to the couch and sat down, worried.

' _Is she beginning to remember?_ '

* * *

Running through the streets, sometimes sliding on the layer of snow, Gluttony cradled the man, now awake and terrified, until a suitable alley presented itself. Inside, he relieved his hunger for a fraction of a moment, as the white ground turned red.


	4. Breakfast

Lust opened her eyes. Sunlight hit her through the curtains, waking her from the usual nightmare. She rubbed her eyes and blinked away the bad dreams, then sat up in bed. Her movements woke Lily, and after he jumped onto the floor she heard his paws on the hardwood dash out the door. By processes unknown to Lust, her floral print sundress never grew dirty. For convenience it doubled as a nightshirt, so she was already dressed. She turned, and hung her legs over the side of the mattress to feel for her slippers. After recoiling from touching the cold wood floor, she found one, and eased her foot into it. With her other foot Lust felt the second slipper, but accidentally kicked it away, to the doorway.

Lust sighed. She twisted and looked at the bed. If she'd twisted the other way, and seen the pillows, she might've spared herself some trouble. Instead Lust saw the comforter, and thought it too heavy. A lighter blanket she'd wrapped herself in, and held around her shoulders to keep warm. The pitiful homunculus could find nothing to use as a stepping stone. She sighed again, and realized the previous morning's events would have to be repeated.

Lust put down her right foot, snug in its slipper, and stood on it with a hand against the wall to balance. She slid her hand forward, and hopped, keeping her bare foot bent towards the ceiling. A second hop, and she was nearly halfway there. At the third the slipper was still out of reach, but a gas lamp on the wall placed at just the wrong height prevented her from sliding her hand again for a fourth hop. A precise leap might land her foot in the slipper, but the chance was poor. Lust tried to remember what she'd done yesterday morning, when the same situation occurred. She'd stood on something to continue, that was certain, but what? A third sigh escaped her as Lust remembered it was the chair to her right- the previous morning, Lust realized, it had been the other slipper she kicked.

She stretched, trying to reach the chair, but it was no use. Lust looked at the slipper, and felt it was mocking her, saying 'Come here, little girl- I'll keep your foot nice and warm, but first you'll have to step on the cold floor! Mwuhaha!' It was unacceptable. Then she thought of what Selim had taught her. Could she pick it up with her nails, without damaging it? With no other choices, she knew she had to try.

Lust extended her nails on one hand, slowing them as they approached, and inching them towards the slipper. Then she hesitated, and retracted them. What if she hurt the slipper? With her arm against the wall getting tired, Lust decided to take action, and before there was time to think about it made a rushed step on the floor.

As she put down her foot the coolness hit it, beginning with the heel and rushing with the step to her toes. As she moved forward Lust leaned forward, enough to pick up the slipper as she dashed out through the open doorway. As she stood on the carpeted hallway and took a deep breath, glad she made Greed leave the door open at night so it wouldn't be total darkness, Lust put on the slipper and smiled, thinking she'd done a selfless deed by not risking the slipper's safety for her own sake. She shivered though, and realized her blanket had fallen when she grabbed the slipper. Both her feet were snug though, so she ran downstairs to the kitchen without going back for it.

"Greed, Greed," He heard her call as she came down the stairs, "I want breakfast!"

"Breakfast? You want to eat?" Greed asked as he looked up from the table, and Lust nodded. ' _Is this from Gluttony's influence?_ ' He put down the paper he'd been reading and waved a hand at the pantry, "We don't have any food, and don't need any. We don't need to eat, so food's a luxury- and you haven't asked for any in the past. What brought this on?"

"I got hungry!" Lust declared, and walked to the pantry. She opened the door, and saw there was nothing on the bottom shelf. Nothing on the second shelf either, nor the third and fourth shelves. Her heels rose off the slippers as she stood on the balls and toes of her feet, to find the fifth shelf equally bare. "Why don't we have any food?" Lust asked as she sat down in the chair across from him, and rested her chin on the table.

"I just told you why we don't. Are you really hungry?" Greed asked, and she nodded. "What does it feel like?"

"It feels like my insides are trying to eat themselves," Lust said.

' _What the heck'd Gluttony do?_ ' Greed closed his eyes and tried to remember how to cook anything. "Alright, I'll make you breakfast, but it'll take awhile, okay?"

"O-k." Her stomach made a noise.

' _Food... what can I make? Eggs, probably, and they sell bread from the ovens someplace in this city. I haven't made anything in... forty years?_ ' Greed shook his head, ' _I should focus on this, not memory lane._ '

He stood up, and she watched him to find out where he kept hidden food. "Since there isn't any here, I'll have to go buy food. You coming?"

Lust rushed out of her chair and saluted, saying "Aye aye, sir!" Before Greed reached the hallway she was at the door, pulling it open. Her smile disappeared as she saw snow drifts against buildings, and slush in the streets. An icicle hung alone from the banister on their stoop, and dripped once every few heartbeats, and sent water falling straight down with no wind to push it.

Greed sensed her mood change, and saw why. ' _She hasn't had time to learn to ignore temperatures even this mild yet, has she?_ ' He put a hand on her shoulder, "Why don't you take a blanket from your bed, to stay warm?" Lust nodded, and ran upstairs. ' _I should get her a jacket to go over that sundress,_ ' he thought while waiting for her.

When she came back down wrapped in the blanket she'd dropped earlier, Greed picked her up. "If you walk, your slippers will get wet and your feet cold," he told her, wiping a corner of the blanket from his face. With Lust on his shoulders, Greed ducked through the doorway before turning to close the door, and they left.

* * *

The walk to the market was fascinating and educational for Lust, while for Greed it was tedious and littered with questions. "What's that," "Who's he," and most popularly, "Was that alchemy?" The answers he gave were from a limited pool made up of "I don't know," "What's it to you," and "No."

The marketplace itself was also an adventure, and several times Lust had to be asked "If I put you down, what'll happen to your feet?" If she'd made a list later that day of things learned at the market, it'd consist of "Don't touch that," "Don't touch him," and "No, you're not getting a whole roast pig for breakfast."

Greed decided on a basketful of a few fruits and vegetables, eggs, bread and butter, and a few small cuts of meat. ' _That should be enough,_ ' he thought, ' _for at least a few days. Maybe I should start selling some of that sports paraphernalia- the pieces Pride and Lust haven't chopped up, anyway._ '

They bought these things with the budget Father expected to be used for more relevant things and left, heading back towards the street they resided on. On the way Lust leaned forward on Greed's head and denied accusations of being tired. At an intersection of cobble and brick ways, puddles from the slush was a joyful meeting place of children from around the neighborhood. Lust watched them jump around and laugh at nothing as she wondered aloud what they were doing.

"Those kids? They're just splashing in the puddles. It's weird, but so are most kids their size, and it's pretty common a game," Greed explained, and lifted an arm to hand her the basket. "Can you hold this? It's hard carrying it and you without dropping either."

Lust took it and rested it on his hair. She held its curved handle proudly with one hand over the other, and imagined she was a heroic legend standing over a classical sword. Greed had no way of seeing this, only feeling the basket being placed, then pushed, onto his head. ' _The heck's she doing up there, trying to brain me?_ ' But he said nothing and kept going.

As the two neared the house, the building Lust called home and Greed thought of as just a building, they saw someone waiting by the door. It was someone with an average build, wearing average clothes and carrying a common briefcase; he looked like a business man. They reached the stairs going up to the door before he reacted to their presence, pulling his hat down over his eyes.

"Can I help you?" Greed asked, with a sullen expression. The man turned to them, and smiled with unnatural wideness.

"Oh hey there Greed, I was wondering why you didn't answer the door. Going out with Lust?"

"Oh hey there Envy, shut up and leave. I never said you could come, so get out of here before I shout for Gluttony and have him 'remove' you. He'll do it, believe me."

Lust stretched her back, trying to see the man from above, but Envy's hat block her view until he looked up. Startled and terrified by his face, she ducked. Something about it convinced her that he could harm her, or anyone else, without a shred of empathy.

"I only thought I'd drop by- acquaint myself with her. I mean, the two of us haven't even said a word to each since it happened," Envy said, and looked up again at the small homunculus hiding her face in the basket. "We still haven't, technically. Hello, my na-"

"Leave. Right now. Never return here." Greed glared at It, and held up a fist. "Technically, there's no reason for you to introduce yourself, 'cause she's never meeting you again. Now go!"

Envy smiled, "I'll be watching to make sure the house is safe. Yeah, Gluttony told us about the thief- lucky thing he was there. So if you should ever step out alone, Greed."

It left the threat open, and turned to leave. As It reached the street Envy looked back, and saw Greed looking over his shoulder, watching It. ' _Funny, just a month ago we didn't have a single weakling homunculus- now there are three._ ' It let out a quiet chuckle, before forcing the laugh louder, until Its echoes reached blocks away. Then Envy went away, and Greed opened the door to go in.

"Greed, who was that?" Lust asked, opening her eyes after hearing the door close. "I don't like him. He's creepy, in a scary way."

"Forget about him, kid. Don't even think of him as a person, just an It." Greed crouched to let her down, "Here, put your blanket upstairs and all that's in the basket on the kitchen table. I'll worry about It, not you."

Lust balanced the food on Greed's head and climbed down before she grabbed the basket. She ran into the kitchen to put it on the table, then went up the stairs and back down before Greed had the food unpacked.

"Do I get to learn how to cook?" Lust asked, and stepped over a small puddle made of Greed's footprint.

"Sure, if you pay attention," Greed told her, and started making her a breakfast, as thoughts of Envy faded from their minds.


End file.
